The present invention concerns interior soffits and other functional and decorative facade structures, particularly a system of modular components by which the same can be readily installed.
Traditionally, soffits, for instance in kitchens, bathrooms and the like, are fabricated on the job by the carpenters and dry-wall artisans responsible for the construction of the basic room, which is to say, before the installation of the cabinets below them. Because of that, problems frequently arise owing to poor communication or misunderstanding between the framers of the room and the soffits, on the one hand, and the designer of the kitchen, for instance, and/or the installer of its cabinets and other equipment, on the other hand. Inaccuracies in construction, when soffits are built in this manner, also often occur and are difficult and costly to correct. That is left to the cabinet installer to do later by the use of spacers or shims, for instance, or make make-shift remedies which frequently result in a less than acceptable finished product. Even the preformed soffits of my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,584,807 and 4,704,833, though they are better than typical framed-up soffits, can suffer since they are put in place by the carpenter and covered by the dry-waller. Indeed, so common and so nagging are the problems with soffits installed in the traditional manner that some builders and designers discourage their use altogether because of the labor and material costs involved not only in their construction but also in correcting their shortcomings.
So the primary object of the present invention is to provide for the installation of soffits and other interior facade structures in a manner which avoids the problems and deficiencies recounted above.
Another object is the provision of a system of modular components by which soffits and other interior facades of various sizes can be readily and accurately installed.
A further object is the provision of a system of modular components by which various decorative soffit and other structural facade designs can be readily created.
A still further object is to accomplish the foregoing with minimum requirement of labor and skill on the part of those involved in the construction concerned.